Clifford's back
by holbymaddy
Summary: Set when Maddy and Tom were still in Holby. Dan comes back for Maddy.
1. Chapter 1

It was 3:00 on Monday morning. Maddy fumbled carelessly with the lock on her front door. She felt awful. No more nights out, she thought to herself, especially on a work night. As she clambered through her front door the room seemed to spin and before she knew it she hit the floor with a thud. She slowly started to get up again, but she fell straight back onto her knees. At that moment something caught hold of her. A pair of strong arms was holding her body tight. But for some reason she wasn't frightened, instead she felt comforted by their touch. The way this person was holding her felt strangely familiar. Then all of a sudden the dizziness Maddy felt overcame her and everything went black.

The next morning Maddy opened her eyes. For a few minutes everything was fuzzy, then when her eyes adjusted to the light she realised that she was lying in her bed. A couple of minutes later their was a soft knock on her bedroom door. "You awake Madz?" Maddy lay still on the bed, it couldn't be. "Dan?" Then she watched as the handsome figure of Dan Clifford walked towards her, carrying a mug of black coffee. He placed the coffee cup down on her bedside table and sat on the edge of her bed. "I got in late last night and came straight here to visit you. Obviously you weren't in. I discovered the spare key underneath the door mat and let myself in." Dan explained. "I have to admit though, finding you drunk and on the floor wasn't how I pictured our reunion."

"It was Maria's birthday, we had a bit of a night," said Maddy sitting up and trying to ignore the searing pain that ran through her head as her hangover came to light. "I don't really remember it that well. What are you doing back here?"

"I'm attending a conference about three miles from here." He paused. "And I wanted to see you." Maddy looked up into Dan's eyes, suddenly remembering how it felt to be around him. How it hurt when he left. All the feeling she had felt for him before he left for France came rushing back. She missed him, even though she couldn't bring herself to say it. For a few minutes they just stared. Then she felt his arms wrap around her and he hugged her tightly. She instantly relaxed under his touch and hugged him back. Maddy didn't know how long they stayed there for. It seemed to take forever for them to break apart. They stayed silent for a couple more minutes, then Maddy noticed the time, it was almost 8 o'clock. "I'm going to be late for work." She said, and fifteen minutes later she was changed and out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

It was 9:00 when Maddy finally arrived on AAU. Her shift was supposed to start at eight o'clock. She was late, again. She walked over to Tom, Maria and Donna who were all chatting over by the nurses station. She was glad to see that she wasn't the only one that was hung over from the night before. "Hi Maddy" said Tom. "Great night last night wasn't it?" As usual, Tom seemed to be the only one that wasn't suffering. "To be honest I don't remember it," Maddy replied.

"Yeah, you were in a worse state than the lot of us." Donna teased.

"What do you remember?" asked Maria, continuing the banter.

"Arriving at the club and buying the first drink. After that its all a blur." Maddy thought for a moment. "Although I vaguely remember a certain someone having a bit too much of a good time with the barman." They all looked at Donna.

"His name was Steve" she said and marched off with her arms folded. Maddy smiled to herself. She had had her revenge. "Oh here's the boss." Tom shot Maddy a warning look as he and Maria backed away, leaving Maddy with Linden. "Thanks guys." Maddy said sarcastically, more to herself than the others. She turned to face Linden who had just walked up behind her. "Doctor Young, your late again." He looked stern but she knew that he wouldn't stay mad at her for long. "Sorry," said Maddy, looking as apologetic as possible. Linden sighed. "Maddy, this is the third time this week."

"I know," she paused wondering whether to tell him about Dan turning up or whether he'd think it was just another escuse. "Look, just get some worked done," said Linden and he walked back into his office. Maddy watched as the door shut behind him.

Dan sat in Maddy's flat, wondering what to do with himself. His conference wasn't until thursday. Today was Monday. He knew Maddy wouldn't miss work as work was everything to her. So that meant that while Maddy was in work he had some time to kill. He thought for a moment and then smiled to himself. He knew just what to do.

The end of the day was now drawing near. Back at the hospital Maddy and Tom were admiring the stillness of AAU. Earlier on today it had been busy. Maddy hardly had time for lunch because there was so much to do. Patients seemed to be coming from all over the place claiming to have some kind of illness. Even though many of them, as usual, were just being overly cautious. But now it was quiet, and Maddy in particular was looking forward to going home. "Three, two, one and end of shift" said Tom. "Drink? Donna and Maria are meeting us at the bar."

"I can't" said Maddy.

"what?" said Tom, looking confused. "It wasn't that bad last night was it?"

"What do you mean?" asked Maddy.

"You really don't remember do you? I thought you were just being playful."

"Remember what?" said Maddy.

"We kissed." He said. Maddy looked at Tom stunned.

"But we were drunk, weren't we. I mean, it didn't mean anything." Maddy said. Tom looked at her. The he stroked her hair tenderly. "Maybe it didn't" he said. Before either of them could say anymore Tom leaned in for a kiss and Maddy obliged. She couldn't resist him. They backed up, slipping quietly through the door of the nearest linen cupboard and then closed it behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

Maddy opened her eyes and sat up. It took her a moment to realise where she was - in the linen cupboard. Tom's body lay asleep next to her. _What have I done? _thought Maddy. _I mean, I like Tom, he's one of my best friends. But sleeping with him never ever crossed my mind. And why did he have to make his move now? Just as Dan has finally returned just like I'd always wanted. _Maddy broke from her train of thought and started rooting for her clothes. Everything was scattered everywhere so it took her a while to find them. When she eventually found them she pulled them on as quickly as she could and scarpered from the linen cupboard, leaving Tom undisturbed.

Dan was still in Maddy's flat. He'd cooked a beautiful candlelit dinner with Maddy's favourite food. At least he hoped it was still her favourite. He'd also added a string of rose petals leading from Maddy's front door to the kitchen, where he had prepared the meal. The only thing that was missing now was Maddy. She was supposed to finish work by six, it was now approaching ten o'clock. He had assumed that she would come straight home, or maybe it was naive to think that she would rush home for him. He felt terribly guilty for leaving her to go to Strasbourg and knew that he had broke her heart. Thats why he was back, he wanted to fix it. Of course he could just be being paranoid. Maybe it wasn't about him. Maddy liked to party, he knew that. He used to join her in the bar nearly every night after work when he was working at Holby. It was Maddy's way of unwinding after a hard day at work. He decided not to dwell on it anymore. All that mattered was that Maddy wasn't there and it was unlikely she would be home tonight. So he settled down on the sofa and eventually fell asleep.

Maddy was out walking. The night was bitter and frost began to cover the street. Maddy wasn't taking any notice of the weather. She was too busy trying to fight the confusion that took over her brain. She didn't know who she wanted to be with, Dan or Tom, but she felt like she had betrayed Dan somehow by sleeping with Tom. Maddy decided she needed a place to think and get her head straight so she turned and headed for the train station. when she got there it was quiet - that was how she had hoped it would be. She went over to the nearest bench and lay down. Thoughts swimming about in her mind. What was she going to do?


	4. Chapter 4

It was the next morning. Dan woke and sat up on Maddy's couch where he had spent the night. Dan's surprise for Maddy was still set up in the kitchen from the prvious evening. He had eventually given up on waiting for Maddy to come home. He glanced at his watch, it was almost 7 o'clock, She must be home by now. He made his way upstairs to check her room but she wasn't there. He checked the rest of the house but he still didn't have much luck. He made one last attempt by shouting her name and gave up when there was no answer. She obviously wasn't home yet. Dan flicked open his mobile, found Maddy's mobile and pressed call. It started ringing. He waited while it rang and rang and then hung up when it went to voicemail. Where was she?

Tom opened his eyes and looked round, he was still in the linen cupboard. He smiled slightly as he remembered the night before and rolled over onto his side expecting to see Maddy, but she wasn't there. He sat up and looked at his watch, it was 7 o'clock. Both he and Maddy started work at eight. Surely she would have woken him up before leaving. He quickly got dressed and straightened up, she was likely to be grabbing a coffee before arriving on the ward.

Maddy was still curled up on the bench. She had been there all night. She guessed that people had thought that she was a homeless person because someone had took pity on her and dropped a load of change by the bench. Maddy sat up, she was stiff from sleeping on the hard wood and the cold air was making her shiver more than usual. she pulled the cardigen she had on tightly around her arms suddenly realising that she had forgotten her coat in her hurry to get out of the hospital and away from Tom. Maddy looked around at the now crowded train station as people were bustling on and off the trains in a bid to get to work. It was then Maddy decided she had better get to work herself. As she got up she felt slightly dizzy but she just put that down to disturbed sleep. She carried on walking slowly but it felt like each step was getting worse. She looked down and saw that the jeans covering her right leg was covered with blood. She reached out with her hand to touch it but the sight of her own blood seemed to be making her feel even more faint. Eventually she had no choice but to let the dizziness take over her and she lay on the ground unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

Over on AAU, Tom was on edge. Maddy was very rarely on time for work, but at least he knew where she was most of the time. This time he didn't. Also, someone called Dan had phoned AAU asking if Maddy had turned up for work, so it was obvious that Tom wasn't the only one that was looking for her. "We are down a doctor again I see." said consultant nurse Mark Williams as he approached Tom. But mark had to eat his words. They watched in horror and shock as a trolley was wheeled in carrying an unconscious Maddy. Surgical consultant Linden Cullen, and also a good friend of Maddy's, was running along side yelling for people to get out of the way.

They turned left into a side room, which was private, so they could treat her properly without any disturbances. Tom rushed in after them, closly followed by Mark. "What happened?" asked Tom. As he did he went over to Maddy's side and held her hand. Linden and Mark gave eachother a knowing look as they saw this, but tactfully decided now wasn't the right time to say anything. "She was found lying on a bench at the train station. Ambulance crew said it looked like she had been there all night." Linden said as he started to cut through Maddy's jeans to get a better look at her leg. A nurse was checking Maddy's vital signs as he was doing this. There was a deep gash that stretched most of the way down her leg. "It looks like a nail has gone through her skin," said Mark who was getting quite good at guessing what caused most of his patients injuries. He continued. "If she was asleep on the bench there would have been any number of rusty nails lying about, especially at an old train station like that, and if she moved her leg after the nail went through then it would certainly create this kind of injury. What I don't understand is why she didn't feel the nail go through her leg in the first place." Linden answered that question for him. "She's freezing." he said. "Its possible that she was too cold to feel anything."

Linden took another look at the leg. "looks like it's infected." he said. They all looked up as the nurse spoke. "Vital signs are good" she said. Linden gave her a nod and they watched for a moment as she left the room to see to her other patients. Mark broke the silence. "What the hell was she doing staying out all night?" said mark. More to himself than to the others. He certainly wasn't expecting an answer from Tom who had remained quiet since entering. "Because of me." Tom said. Linden and Mark both looked at him questioningly. "We slept together last night," he continued. "She ran out in the middle of the night. She was nowhere to be seen when I woke up." Tom's eyes began to fill up with tears. Mark placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault" said mark.

"Let's get her cleaned up and start her on a course of antibiotics," said Linden. "Apart from the infection in the leg she seems to be ok. We need to keep her in for a few days though to keep an eye on her."

A couple of hours later, Maddy still hadn't woken up yet. Her leg had been cleaned and dressed and, thankfully, the antibiotics had started to work. Mark and Linden had gone to perform other duties while Tom remained vigil by her bed side. He felt guilty. She had stayed out because of him. He just couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. Tom had thought it was a mutual attraction, after all Maddy did kiss him back. Apparently, he couldn't have been more wrong.

About twenty minutes later Maddy started to stir. "It's ok Maddy." Said Tom reassuringly. "You're in the hospital."

"Dan?" asked Maddy.

Tom's heart sunk. He knew she was still groggy but surely she would know who he was.

"No," said Tom sadly. "It's Tom". Maddy slowly began to get more coherent. "Do you remember what happened?" asked Tom.

"I was at the train station." Said Maddy. "I must of fell asleep."

"You did," said Tom. "You also put your leg on a rusty nail. You have an infected leg because of it." Maddy looked down at the dressings on her leg but didn't say anything. She suddenly remembered why she had ran out in the first place. She had betrayed the one person she had ever truly loved, Dan, afer he came back for her. Now he was likely to hate her forever. "i'll go and let the others know your awake" said Tom.

Tom walked out of the side room, spotted Linden over by the nurses station and walked over to him. "Maddy's awake," said Tom.

"That's fantastic," replied Linden. They started making there way back towards Maddy's room. Linden saw the unhappy look on Tom's face. "What's the matter?" he asked. "I thought you'd be pleased."

"I am" said Tom. They stopped walking for a moment.

"But?" Linden pressed.

"When she woke," Tom continued, " She asked for someone named Dan."

Linden knew exactly who this Dan was. He was talking about Dan Clifford. Dan had already left before Linden came to Holby but he remembered when Dan came back the first time. Maddy couldn't focus at work at work that day, all she could think about was meeting with Dan after her shift. Only Dan phoned her up at last minute, cancelling the meet. Maddy was gutted and Linden was forced to give her leave to give her some time to get her head round it. Given the fact that Maddy had slept with Tom, Linden decided not to make things worse and play dumb. "Maybe you just look like a Dan." said Linden.

"Maybe" said Tom. He sounded doubtful but the left the conversation at that.

They walked the rest of the way to Maddy's room. Maddy was sitting up now. She looked at them both and gave them a smile as they walked in. She was still weak but some of the colour had returned to her cheeks now. "Hi" said Maddy. She felt a little embarrassed of the situation she had gotten herself into. Only she could fall asleep on a bench and get an infected leg from a rusty nail. "How are you feeling?" asked Linden. He took hold of her wrist to check her pulse. "Better" said Maddy. "Maybe a little foolish." She took a quick glance at Tom who was hovering awkwardly by the door. He looked uncomfortable and was barely looking at her.

"Well next time," said Linden, with a slight smirk. "Make sure you pick a bench that doesn't have a rusty nail sticking out of it." Maddy gave him a smile in return but had no comeback for it. Linden sat down on the edge of Maddy's bed so he was closer to Maddy. "Look" said Linden in a low voice, so that Tom couldn't hear. "Tom heard you say Dan's name as you woke up. I assume there is only one Dan that could be."

Maddy nodded.

"Do you want me to call him?" asked Linden.

"No," said Maddy. "He's staying at my place. I feel fine. I'll be home by tonight."

"No you won't" said Linden sternly. They were speaking normally again now. "I want to keep you in overnight so I can keep an eye on you."

"I'm a doctor," said Maddy. "I know when i'm in trouble. Besides, there is a doctor at my flat too."

Linden paused for a moment. He didn't see any point in arguing with her. Maddy was as stubborn as they come. He knew that once she had her mind set on something there was almost no chance of her changing it.

"Please," said Maddy. "I have to see him. At this Tom couldn't take anymore and Linden and Maddy watched as Tom retreated out the door. Maddy felt a stab of guilt course through her body. For some reason she only wanted to see Dan and she wasn't giving Tom a second thought. Linden, thinking that Maddy had been through enough decided not to press the situation.

Half an hour later, Linden found himself signing Maddy's discharge forms. He phoned her a taxi and watched helplessly as Maddy limped down the corridor towards the exit. He had told her to keep taking antibiotics and to rest her leg, but he doubted that Maddy would get any rest. All she was concerned about at that moment in time was seeing Dan. Linden glanced over at Tom. Tom had resumed his work duties now but Linden had a feeling that he was respectfully keeping the distance between him and Maddy until Maddy was ready to talk. Hearing Maddy ask for Dan had seemed to hurt Tom more than he was letting on. Tom must truly love Maddy, thought Linden.


End file.
